"Chips Report" from Packers Week 15 Loss at Bills
Aaron Rodgers and Sam Barrington were the goats in the Packers' 21-13 loss to the Bills on Sunday.
Our weekly "Chips Report" will always include two blue chips (outstanding, exceptional play), two red chips (good, although maybe not great) and two cow chips (dud performances). From the Green Bay Packers' 21-13 loss to the Buffalo Bills...
Blue Chips
- Running back Eddie Lacy—One thing is for sure, Lacy didn't appear to be hampered by the hip injury suffered in the Packers last game on Monday that forced him to be a limited practice participant all week. While the Packers passing game couldn't click, he was the one consistent threat on the ground. Lacy had more than 100 yards from scrimmage for a seventh consecutive game, including 97 yards rushing and averaging 6.5 yards per carry. He scored the first and only Packers touchdown on the day in the second quarter, covering more than 50 of the team's 80 yards on that drive alone. Chipped in two catches for 11 yards and recovered the fumble in the end zone for a safety instead of a Bills touchdown at the end of the game.
- Cornerback Tramon Williams—Williams came up with the Packers' only turnover of the day, grabbing a second quarter pass by Kyle Orton, inteded for Sammy Watkins. Any completions given up by Williams were few and far between. He was part of the reason the Bills only threw for 140 yards and contributed two tackles to the cause.
Red Chips
- Linebacker Clay Matthews—Sometimes the play came right to him, but Matthews put himself in an opportunity to make plays and made them when he had to. He made two of the Packers' three sacks on the afternoon, was the only player on the team to make more than one tackle for a loss and also the only player to be credited with more than one quarterback hit. Add in four tackles, including one in which he sniffed out a screen pass, and it certainly wasn't Matthews fault the Packers lost the game.
- Offensive lineman T.J. Lang—By and large, the entire Packers offensive line played well against a very aggressive Bills defensive line. Unlike his teammates, however, Lang didn't have costly penalties like Bulaga (false start), Bakhtiari and Sitton (holding), allowed penetration on a blocked field goal (Linsley) or allowed a strip sack resulting in a safety (Tretter). Lang helped the Packers keep a clean pocket and got the push up front to average 6.3 yards per carry.
Cow Chips
- Quarterback Aaron Rodgers—Rodgers didn't get much help from a recieving corps that dropped five or so catches. But on a day he completed merely 40 percent of his passes and threw 25 incompletions, Rodgers deserves more than his fair share of the blame. Several times throughout the day, Rodgers threw behind his receivers, including his first of two interceptions on the day. It was Rodgers' first interception since Week 8, and he narrowly avoided a couple other interceptions. Tretter might have given up too much pressure on the strip sack for a safety at the end of the game, but it was also poor ball security by Rodgers.
- Linebacker Sam Barrington—Three penalties. Barrington's first for a horse-collar tackle offset a holding call by wide receiver Robert Woods that should have pushed the Bills backwards. His second penalty was for unnecessary roughness on Tramon Williams' interception, a turnover the Packers couldn't convert into a scoring opportunity. The last penalty was a neutral-zone infraction when the Packers were trying to force a punt with just over three minutes to go. Barrington was also one of four players to over-pursue on the punt return for a touchdown, failing to break down and keep Marcus Thigpen in front of them.
Brian Carriveau is the author of the book "It's Just a Game: Big League Drama in Small Town America," and editor at Cheesehead TV and its "Pro Football Draft Preview." To contact Brian, email [email protected].
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Comments (22)
JJB
December 14, 2014 at 04:32 pm
Cow chips the refs. Holding our WRs out of the breaks and not one flag. Glad Rodgers said something about it in his press conference.
hybridauth_Facebook_100004084225446
December 14, 2014 at 07:05 pm
Yes them refs were all full ........................
Packer_Pete
December 14, 2014 at 04:40 pm
Cow chip - all WRs not named Cobb. At the very least, you have to give a cow chip to Jordy. Probably his worst game as a Packer.
DrealynWilliams
December 14, 2014 at 05:17 pm
Kind of unfair. Cobb was put in a position to beat a LB or a Safety and he racked up from that. The Bills CBs were jumping routes (+ holding) and had a Safety on top of Jordy all game.
Games like this where 1 of the 2 (Nelson or Cobb) doesn't play well the #3 or any TE has to offer SOMETHING. We got nothing from every WR/TE NOT named Cobb.
With that being said, I do believe Jordy gets a Chip for that dropped TD pass and miscommunication early on in the game.
Tundraboy
December 14, 2014 at 04:50 pm
Glad I missed it but Lacy being healthy is a win I hope down the road.
Lphill
December 14, 2014 at 04:54 pm
good to get this lose over with, time to start new winning streak, I do think the Ref's let the Bills D B 's get away with a little bit too much and I think there was a hold on Sitton on a big Lacy run was a bad call, but I have to see it again.
JimTaylor31
December 14, 2014 at 04:55 pm
Aaron was lucky he didn't have a coupe more picked off. Bad day for Jordy but Aaron was just overall poor. I'm just not convinced that this team can go on the road and beat a top-tier defense. Hope we don't have to.
WilsonMaywick
December 14, 2014 at 05:13 pm
Agreed JT31. The Pack is 3-4 on the road this year. Doesn't inspire confidence.
DrealynWilliams
December 14, 2014 at 05:37 pm
You would think 0-7 wouldn't inspire confidence...geez
zoellner25
December 14, 2014 at 05:46 pm
This game sucked but I'm glad they lost. They needed a wake up call and I think this might be it. Cow chips to jordy and our special teams. How many kicks is MM Going to watch get blocked before he fires Slocums worthless ass?
badaxed
December 14, 2014 at 06:30 pm
Cow chip for Slowcum. Maybe he can go jump over the moon with "Cow".
DraftHobbyist
December 14, 2014 at 07:05 pm
It's time to admit that we might very well miss the playoffs. I predicted before the season that the Packers would make the playoffs barely and lose their first game in the playoffs, but I also believed there was a very real possibility we would miss the playoffs. That's exactly the situation we fall in now.
We went from looking at a bye to 6th place in the matter of one game, and Dallas is only half a game behind us. We better hope they lose to Philadelphia.
Hopefully this game was an anomaly and not a sign that we peaked too early, but it's really feeling like we peaked too early. The Detroit game will likely decide whether we make the playoffs or not now, and we already lost to them once.
4thand1
December 14, 2014 at 07:18 pm
Packers win the next 2........................BOOK IT.
MarkinMadison
December 14, 2014 at 09:20 pm
Win out and the Packers likely end up with the #2 seed and a bye. If Seattle falls then the NFC Championship is at Lambeau. Seems as likely as missing the playoffs at this point. I'm not going to start worrying unless they lose to Tampa.
Mojo
December 14, 2014 at 09:40 pm
Thought the D played pretty well today - but I have to ask - where has Peppers been? He's been blocked out of plays easily and I've haven't seen hardly any pass-rush. Not just today but for the last few games. Hope he's saving it for the playoffs.
One thing I found very encouraging was the o-line. The run blocking has been very good lately and the pass protection also. If they keep it up they can match up with anyone in the playoffs. One of my pet peeves is the arbitrary nature of holding calls. Sitton was called after the d-lineman fell down. The NFL has got to change that. You can't reward someone for getting their ass kicked.
calabasa
December 14, 2014 at 10:59 pm
Holy crap- how about Peppers getting pancaked by the rookie WR?? Wow.
LASVEGAS-TOM
December 14, 2014 at 10:11 pm
GB is a 10 PT Favorite at Tampa bay next week. At this Pt, it looks Good for GB.
Detroit is a 4 - 4 1/2 PT Favorite at Chicago next week. At this Pt, that Does Not look Good for Detroit. Any other week, I'd be on Chicago, but not this one. Maybe that'll help them win.
Trends cannot be overlooked in Football. GB does not play well in Tampa. 2ond game on the road in a row for any team, is not a Good bet. (To Cover)
GB should have won today easily. Let's hope they get it together next week.
Someone tell me if I'm wrong. A GB win & a Detroit loss next week sews up the Division???, regardless of the last game. Maybe I'm wrong? Does someone know? LVT
calabasa
December 14, 2014 at 11:04 pm
Tom- Detroit holds the head to head tiebreaker so we need to have a better record. Both at 10-4, we need to make up a game. If we win and they lose next week but they beat us at Lambeau, the tied record goes to the Loins.
LASVEGAS-TOM
December 15, 2014 at 02:25 am
You're Right, I don't know what I was thinking?? Too much Champagne. If we lose next week, but win the last game, who has the Tie Breaker then? Is it NFC Losses, or Points in the Head to Head Match up? Am I all mixed up here?? LVT It's late, maybe I shouldn't have asked this question??
calabasa
December 14, 2014 at 11:05 pm
And how fuckingndisgusting would Detroit's first WI victory since 91 be if they knocked us out at home? I just peed a little bit.
Jordan
December 15, 2014 at 02:00 am
Sam Barrington gets a cow chip? He's a flippin 7th round draft pick.
Barrington's cow chip needs to go to Ted Thompson. All cow chips directed at the ILB's need to go to TT. I don't know how many teams are playing a 2013 7th round draft pick at ILB, but it can't be many.
Paulg
December 15, 2014 at 05:15 am
removed comment, hate the sears add. can i browse without the audio commercial